The Timber Excursion
by Jupiter's Promise
Summary: When the young Squall and Quistis are lost in Timber, they find themselves in a place they shouldn't be. Might become a Quall. Final Version for now.


Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or any of the characters. They belong to Squaresoft, and I am not getting paid to write this story. I also don't own `Slots of fun' I don't know if that is a real place or not, so if it is I have no affiliation with them, but the name seemed clever to me... (_Pencil_(0  
  
"Now arriving Timber, please make a final check of your belongings before you disembark" came the automated recording over the train's loudspeaker. "Alright, I'm so excited!" exclaimed Zell. "Calm down before you wet your pants Chicken Wuss." Said Seifer with a smirk. "Seifer, leave Zell alone, and Zell, try to calm down," Edea said in a tired sounding voice, "I've had to listen to you two squabbling during the entire train ride, and I won't take it anymore, remember this trip to the city is a reward for good behavior, but that doesn't mean you can start acting up as soon as we arrive." They both nodded. Not even a scolding from Matron could soil their moods, after all, it was their first trip to a city, and not just any city, Timber. Timber was many thousands of miles from the orphanage, however it was the closest big city if you didn't count Winhill. The trip was long awaited, and after their long journey, everyone was itching to get to Timber and stretch their legs. Edea  
stood, and quickly took charge, "Does everyone have their bags?" Various responses of yes "Did anyone do a final check of the cabin?" Quistis nodded, "I found Irvine's toothbrush under the seat, but that was all." She reported. Edea nodded and opened the door of the train, taking the hand of the child closest to her, namely Squall, quickly the children followed her example, and soon the line was formed. Edea took the lead followed by Squall, then Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, Zell, and Seifer bringing up the rear.  
  
They filed off the train and hurried to the hotel at which they would be staying. They had two rooms with twin double beds. In room one, Selphie and Quistis shared a bed and the second Matron slept alone in. In the second room, Seifer and Irvine shared one bed, while Zell and Squall shared the second. Squall wasn't too fond of this arrangement, but he knew better than to voice his opinions. Zell would be hurt, and it was out of the question that either Zell or himself sleep with Seifer. As soon as everyone was situated in their rooms, they excitedly began exploring Timber. They saw lots of awesome places, but they had had a late start and as soon as it grew dark, Edea ushered the children back to the hotel, where they all got on their swimsuits got ready to try out the hotel's pool. Quistis and Squall were the first ready and Edea said they could go ahead of the others as long as they promised to stick together. Grinning, Squall took off down the hallway as he yelled "Race  
You" Quistis only hesitated for a second before she took off after him yelling about how he had a headstart.  
  
After two hours of swimming, Quistis and Squall were sitting on the side of the pool waiting for the others. They were bored, so they began to play chess on a board Squall had found in the lobby. Quistis stared into the dark eyes of her best friend as he contemplated his next move; they were like his namesake, a storm. She knew he was good at hiding all emotion from these orbs, but not because she had seen him do it. Squall always shared his thoughts with her, and vice versa. That was what best friends did. They were each like a diary to the other, and Quistis even ventured to say she knew more about him than anyone else in the world, Even his parents, no especially his parents. Quistis frowned openly, how could someone abandon a boy like Squall. It was a question she contemplated regularly. He was sweet, handsome, clever, and loyal. He was the leader of all the kids at the orphanage, not to mention that besides Seifer, all of them generally adored him. Quistis sighed; it  
was a question the answer to which she would never know. There was a good chance none of them ever would know why the people they might have called parents had brought them into the world, only to load them off on Edea. Suddenly Quistis was brought back to reality by the fact that Squall had moved closer to her. In fact, his face was now inches from her own. "Anybody alive in there?" he asked, looking slightly concerned. She blinked and smiled at him. "Sorry." He shrugged, and turned to face Edea, who was approaching the pair. "You two must be pretty bored, do you want to go up to one of the rooms?" their matron asked. "Sure" Squall answered "Your room or mine?" he said turning back to Quistis. "Mine." She answered "Alright, here's the key, now go straight back to the room and don't talk to any strangers" Edea found herself talking to their backs as they ran off. Edea shook her head and sighed, then tuned back to the pool yelling at Seifer to stop splashing Zell.  
  
Squall sat down on Selphie's bed, and grabbing the remote, turned on the T.V. As Squall began flipping the channels, Quistis sank down in her own bed. Suddenly Squall jumped up and, standing on Selphie's bed, he stared at the T.V. Quistis glanced at the screen, but was soon staring as well. On the television was an ad. "Come to the Timber Junk Shop, we have all of the best in high quality weapons, and in stock now we have the rare Gunblade. Our weapons are of the finest quality, so we know you'll be satisfied." Came the automated voice over the TV. Ainstanty various weapons flashed across the screen. There was a Blaster Edge, a chain whip, some metal knuckles, a nunchaku, a revolver, a machine gun, a pair of Katals, the rare gunblade, and even an Anchor. Quistis and Squall were in a trance as the commercial continued. When the advertisement was over Squall switched off the T.V. They both looked at each other "Quisty, we have to go to that store." Squall seemed to be begging.  
"In the commercial they said it is right across the street from a casino called `Slots O' Fun' I think I saw that place when we went out earlier." Quistis shook her head at him. "Even if we could get there, Matron would kill us when she found out, literally, and then after she learned that we sneaked to a shop with weapons, she would heal us up with a phoenix down and kill us again." "C'mon Quisty" Squall pleaded, "They're gonna be in the pool for a while longer, and we'll just take a quick look, matron won't ever even know" Quistis frowned, but she had to admit the notion was tempting, and anyway they had done bad things before, and she and Squall always seemed to escape the wrath Matron invoked on all rule breakers in one way or another. Quistis looked into Squall's plead beseeching eyes and smiled "Alright, but just a quick peek, and we come right back to the hotel."  
  
As the two youths made their way through the streets of timber, one thing was apparent, they were lost. The streets were much more packed in the twilight hour, and Quisis had to check on Squall every few seconds to make sure he was still with her. Finally they stopped on the stoop of an item store. Squall scanned the crowd "We'll never find our way in this crowd." He mumbled "Hey" yelled Quistis pointing to a street leading off the main road "Look down that street, it's much more deserted, I'm sure we can get find it more easily there." Squall looked at it, uncertain at first. The street definitely wasn't crowded, in fact deserted was the word he would use to describe it. It looked like a thru alley, and Squall could barely make out another street at the end. "I dun no Quisty, that place must be deserted for a reason." Quistis grinned, "Is the fearless male scared of an ally?" she questioned, "I'm not afraid, It's just that..." Squall hesitated and after a moment composed  
himself "It's just that I was worried you'd be afraid, ya know, you being a girl and all" "Oh I see how it is" said Quistis with another grin "Well commander don't worry, your overwhelming masculinity will keep ease the fears of this simple female." And so the two made their way through the throng of people and met up in the alley. They stepped through it, their steps a little hurried despite the fact that they were obviously not afraid of a silly little alley. As they came to the alleys end, they began to see people again. This street had people, but wasn't nearly as crowded as the other street. There were a lot of neon lights and as they entered the street, Squall and Quistis failed to notice a dusty sign near the entrance to the street reading Caution: Now entering Timber's Red Light District.  
  
Squall and Quistis looked around, but nothing on this street was familiar. "Wow Quisty does it feel warmer to you here?" asked Squall "No, why?" replied Quistis "Well people sure seem to wear a lot less on this street" Squall said. Quistis stopped looking street signs glanced at the people. Sure enough, Squall was right. Around them were people in the skimpiest clothes she had ever seen. She looked at the buildings; the fronts were comprised mostly of young women posing with very little on in windows rimmed with neon red lights. All around them people were laughing and drinking. "Well" said Squall taking charge "I guess we should go into one of those buildings and ask if they know how to get to the junk shop or even the hotel, anyway I gotta pee soon or I'm goona explode" Quistis nodded and Squall took her hand as they walked up to a building that had a neon mug as a sign. They paused at the door for a moment before Quistis spoke up. "Maybe we should wait for someone to come  
out first." So they waited until a drunk stumbled out. Quistis and Squall stared for about five seconds before dodging past the man's massive bulk and stepping into the bar. As soon as they were inside a wave of cigarette smoke hit them. Squall and Quistis coughed as they slid into one of the booths. The place was scruffy and stunk. There were card games going on around them and men spoke in loud raucous voices the. The lighting was bad and Squall could only guess what their bathroom looked like. "I think I'll hold It." said Squall "Good choice" replied Quistis, even their meek orphanage was a vast improvement over the building they were now in. Strange sounds were coming from the booth behind Squall and he lifted himself p to peek over and investigate. "What is it?" asked Quistis "There's a guy and a girl, and I think the guy is trying to eat her" reported Squall. Quistis raised an eyebrow, and Squall shrugged in answer. Quistis slid off her seat which was covered in  
peeling duct tape where the stuffing had begun to come out, and walked around the scratched table to Squall's seat which was stained with god knows what. She peered over and sure enough, there was a man and a woman. The man was straddling the woman and seemed to be moving his mouth all over her, as she moaned. Squall's eyes widened as the man's lips went for her neck and he jumped back into the seat. "He's going for the neck" Squall frantically cried "It's all over if he hits anything vital." Quistis slid down next to him, and they quickly moved to another booth. "I wonder what she did," said Quistis fighting back tears at the woman's sad fate. Squall took her hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze. "Don't worry Quisty," He said in as strong a voice as he could muster "I won't let anyone eat you." She smiled back at him, feeling his confidence fill her. Suddenly three men walked up to their table, they wore black suits. One of them stepped right up to the table and the  
other two stood behind him. He looked at Quistis and smiled, revealing two golden teeth. "Ahh fresh meat," his said licking his lips. Quistis's eyes went wide, as his hand reached out to her arm. Squall jumped across the table and knocked it away. "I won't let you eat Quisty!" he said defensively standing in front of his best friend. The man frowned "Alright kid, name your price, I only want her for one night." Squall shot daggers right back at him. "No price, Quisty's not for sale." The man smiled again. "Everything has a price, and I want that girl." Suddenly he snapped and the other two man grabbed Squall, roughly throwing him against the bar. The room grew silent and everyone stared, however no one made any move to help Squall, who now lay, unmoving, slumped against the floor. The men walked up to him and the two ones that had thrown Squall drew guns. Quistis' eyes widened, they were going to kill him, and all because he had protected her. The other man stepped up in  
front of the two with the guns and smiled that sinister smile. "You see, now the price for you're insolence will be your life" he laughed. Quistis meanwhile, sat forgotten in the booth. Run, a voice in her head told her. But she knew she would not. She began to look around and, finding the object of her desire, slinked across the floor, not ever receiving a second glance.  
  
"10,9,8,7,6" the man without a gun counted. Squall knew when the man reached one the pain would come. He didn't open his eyes, but he hoped Quistis had taken her chance to slip away. "5,4,3" Just kill me already, he thought. Suddenly the sound of glass shattering forced his eyes open. Quistis was silent as she stood behind the men, two mugs of beer in her hands. As the man counting hit three she stepped up behind the men with the guns and jumping up with all her power smashed the mugs of beer together into the sides of their heads. The two men dropped their guns, and collapsed into a puddle if glass and beer on the floor. They were unconscious. The final man turned to Quistis and surveyed the scene before his eyes rested on her. "Little Bitch." He roared as he grabbed her. "Those were my two best men, I'll kill you." Squall saw the flash of metal as the knife was produced from his jacket pocket. "Squall's eyes widened, his mind screamed, and his eyes glimpsed the one of the  
fallen men's guns lying in the pool of beer, blood, and glass. In a frenzy he grabbed the weapon and wielding it as he had seen done a million times on TV. He aimed it so as not to hit Quistis, and his small fingers pulled the trigger.  
  
Quistis closed her eyes, waiting to feel the knife slicing through her flesh, however instead she heard the sharp crack of a gun. Her eyes opened. The man's eyes were also opened, WIDE. He was paused in mid step as though time was frozen. As he lost his grip on Quistis she ran to Squall who was firing round after round at the man, and her safety didn't seem to be affecting him at all, he simply kept firing. Quistis looked at the clearly dead man and then at Squall. His eyes had a glint in them she had never seen before, and they were trained on the dead man. A clicking signaled the emptiness of the gun, it was out of bullets. Squall didn't seem to notice, and kept right on pulling the trigger. Quistis looked at Squall and then at the man. "Squall!" she cried as she ran forward and ripped the gun out of his hand. She threw it down on the ground and grabbing his hand pulled him out of the bar.  
  
They ran to the head of the alley they had arrived through. The street was now as deserted as the alley, and the early rays of the sun were breaking over the horizon. Quistis thought about what Matron was going to do to them when they got back for being gone all night and not even leaving a note, however she pushed this mental debate to the back of her mind. There was a more important issue, Squall. She turned to him, his eyes no longer had that glint in them, instead they were empty and tears were streaming down. He looked at her and she stepped forward. The two embraced, and they stayed that way. Tears streaked both of their cheeks, and soon both of their shirts were soaked. Suddenly Quistis heard footsteps. Reluctantly she broke away from Squall and wiped away her tears glaring at the two figures at the head of the alley. Squall also turned, and both were ready to face whoever came, together this time. It was the man from the booth. He held up his hands submissively, and  
slowly Squall and Quistis lowered their fists, they did not lower their guards. They man spoke, "You two okay, I was in there when you took out those men, you're brave, though I'm sorry that I didn't help you back there, is there anything I can do now, you obviously don't belong here. Need a ride somewhere?" Squall frowned "We saw you trying to eat that woman in the booth back there, how do we know you won't try to eat Quisty too?" Squall questioned. The man blushed and coughed. "Lets just say my tastes run in older women." He said with a smile. Something about him made Quistis want to trust him, and she didn't really want to walk hope either, so she spoke up. "Can you take us to the Timber Hotel?" she asked. He nodded `I'll just get my car." As he walked away Quistis turned to Squall who spoke "I don't trust him." Quistis knew how hard it was to earn Squall's trust, especially if you gave him a bad first impression. "Don't trust him then," she replied taking his hand and  
searching his eyes "Trust my judgment of him, trust me." Squall looked back at her and nodded. When the man returned Squall reluctantly got into the car, with some coaxing from Quistis. Then she leaned against him and slowly fell asleep. Squall took it on himself to protect her and not wake her up, she had been through the same thing as him, and she knew how he felt. The man spoke softly to Squall "You guys are strong friends, maybe even more, today both of you readily risked your life for the other. Keep her close and always protect her." the man said. Squall nodded, don't worry Quisty, he thought, I'll always watch over you. As soon as they arrived at the Timber hotel, the man parked and the trio started in. In the lobby Matron was talking to two police officers. All of the others were at her feet, but Zell was the first to spot them. His eye widened for a second and Squall braced himself for impact. "Squalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll." Zell Squealed, rushing towards  
Squall and catching him in an impossibly strong bear hug. "Argg can't..Breath" Squall choked out. Quistis smiled for the first time in many hours. Matron and the rest of the kids plus the policemen soon surrounded them. Matron pried Zell off Squall before catching both him and Quistis in a hug just as strong as Zell's had been. Tears rolled off her cheek and for a moment she simply held them as though if she let go they would disappear again forever. When she got a grip she released them and immediately spoke in a choked voice "You two had better have a good explanation." Squall and Quistis looked at each other, in their hurry to return they had forgotten to consider a cover up story, and there had certainly not been one in their original plan. Squall spoke "Well it all started when we came back to the hotel room and turned on the T.V." he began, and proceeded to tell the beginning of the story with quite a bit of detail. Once he got to the ally part however, he said they  
had gotten lost and a nice man had found them and offered them a ride back to the hotel. It was the truth, save a few minor details. "So where is the man who brought you home?" asked Edea, surveying the people in the lobby for any likely candidates. Squall and Quistis turned to point out the man, however there was no sign of him. His car was gone as well. "He's gone, we didn't even get a chance to thank him." Quistis said, Squall sighed; he too had wanted to thank the man. The policemen took this opportunity to step forward and one of them spoke. "I'm going to need a detailed description of this man, plus-" "Not now," Squall interrupted, "Me an' Quisty are tired, and we'll talk after we sleep." He glanced at Edea for affirmation and when she nodded the two of them headed for the rooms the keys still being in Squall's pocket. When they reached her room, Squall waited until Quistis got into the bed and tucked herin. "Remember, I'll be right down the hall if you need anything"  
he said softly as he rose to leave. "Squall," she called after him, he turned, biting her lip, Quistis spoke, "Squall will you sleep in here with me?" she asked. Squall smiled, this was a request that would benefit them both.  
  
Edea walked slowly and tiredly towards the room she and the girls shared. She had just had to convince the policemen not to wake the children up, but instead to wait. Right now they were enjoying coffee in the small hotel café, her treat. She sighed as she unlocked the door. Didn't those children understand how much she had worried about them? Suddenly she was greeted with a sight that stopped her in her tracks. Squall was lying in the bed, already fast asleep, and his arms were wrapped around Quistis who was no more awake than he. Edea was sure that they had left out a big part of their story, however, if they wanted to tell her, than someday they would. She sighed again and left the room. She went to the other room where the boys stayed. Slowly, she picked up the phone and dialed a number imprinted into her brain. A number that brought back memories she couldn't dismiss. She had put it off long enough, It was time to talk to Cid.  
  
Wow my first completed Fanfic yay!!! Maybe I'll make this into a Quall, or maybe I'll write my own separate Quall. In case you didn't get it this takes place when Squall and Quistis are kids. That's why Squall doesn't know what a whore is, I'm sure that in his older age Squall did find out what a whore was. (Hey met Rinoa didn't he?;) 


End file.
